Breaking the Rules
by omgitsnovia
Summary: A Fremione fanfiction set to begin the summer before Hermione's fifth year. **Title subject to change**
1. Summer Night

Hermione tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep. It was an uncomfortably warm August night, and as much as she loved spending time at the Burrow, enchantments can only do so much. She missed the air conditioning of her bedroom back home.

Restless and knowing she wasn't going to find sleep anytime soon, she got out of bed, careful not to wake Ginny, and crept down the hall to the bathroom. Without turning on any light, she splashed some cool water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was matted to her forehead and neck with sweat and her tank top and shorts clung to her body awkwardly. She sighed as she saw the familiar face staring back at her – so plain, mundane, boring.

The door that was to her back began to swing open, and she jumped. A figure stumbled into the bathroom. "Do you mind!" Hermione whispered sharply at the intruder, whirling around.

The intruder groaned sleepily. "Sorry 'Mione," he grunted. Hermione's eyes adjusted to the light filtering in from behind the person. She could just barely make out the face under the fussed red hair, but was able to identify the person as Fred.

"Oh, it's alright," Hermione said, simmering down. She couldn't help but stare at Fred. He was wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts. She couldn't help but notice how athletic Fred's body was. Sculpted in all the right places, but not too obvious. It was a wonder she hadn't noticed it before.

"What are you doing up anyways, 'Mione?" Fred asked as he stretched. Hermione's face grew hot as she realized she hadn't yet looked away from his shirtless chest.

"Um, nothing, I should get back to bed, in case Ginny wakes up and sees I'm gone," she spit out before scurrying past the sleepy twin and into the hall. She noticed as she flung herself back into her bed that her arm had brushed against Fred on her way past and was now tingling. What could that mean? Hermione closed her eyes and began to drift off into a restless night's sleep.

**AN: I know it's a very short and general beginning, but I promise I will be adding updates frequently. So keep an eye out!**


	2. Breakfast at the Burrow

**AN: This is more like what the chapters will be like! The first chapter was written when I got home from a closing shift at work (so around 4 am Thursday night/friday morning, woooo. -_-), so again I apologize for how lackluster it was. I hope you enjoy this chapter more!**

A few days later, Hermione woke up to Ginny nudging her. "Hermione, Mum says we've got to leave soon. We're going to the Order headquarters." The sun was streaming in through the window, stretching across Hermione's bed. She rubbed her eyes and stretched.

"Alright, Ginny, I'll be right down. Are the boys awake yet?" she paused and listened, but didn't hear any stomping around, so she assumed the answer was no.

"Not yet. I'm going to wake up Ron right now, but Fred and George insist on apparating over, so Mum is letting them sleep," Ginny confirmed. Hermione shook her head. Since Fred and George have been allowed to use magic outside of school, they attempt to use it constantly. It was rather annoying, actually, but Hermione couldn't really blame them. She was looking forward to the time she would be allowed to perform magic outside of Hogwarts, because it would let her practice more often.

Ginny left the room, and Hermione crawled out of bed. She changed into a pair of jeans and a tank top and attempted to brush her unruly curls. Giving up after a few unsuccessful minutes, she pulled her locks back into a ponytail and decided it was good enough. She travelled downstairs to find Molly and Ginny sitting at the table, chatting cheerfully while eating, and Ron looked glumly down at his plate, still half-asleep and clearly cranky at the fact that he was woken up. According to the family clock, Arthur was at work and the twins were still asleep. Hermione smiled at the scene and grabbed a plate, sitting down next to Ginny and joining the conversation while she ate.

She was just reaching for the last piece of bacon on her plate when there was suddenly a loud crack right next to her and a hand in front of hers. "'Lo, Granger," said a familiar voice before the crunch of bacon.

"George! Really! Is it that necessary to Apparate everywhere now?" Molly scolded without even turning around from her place at the kitchen sink, where she was placing her empty plate.

"But I'm Fred! Honestly, woman, you think you'd learn to tell us apart eventually!" Fred joked with a wink at Hermione. Of course, she knew it was Fred. As peculiar as it sounded, she had learned to tell the boys apart by their scent. They both smelled of cinnamon, but there was a slight nature-like smell that accompanied Fred, like he had just come back in from a walk in the autumn woods. The wink made her warm, and she dipped her head down before she could blush. She looked back up to see Fred smiling at her. She smiled back before another loud crack came from her other side.

"George!" Hermione exclaimed, swatting at the body that was suddenly next to her.

"Ow! What was that for?" George said, rubbing his ribs.

"For frightening me!" she countered.

"Frightening you?" George laughed. "Honestly, Granger, you've been around for over a week now. You think being as smart of a witch as you are, you'd learn to expect it."

"Alright now, George, that's enough," Molly said, finally turning around. "Are you kids ready to go? Sirius and Remus are expecting us." The kids all grumbled their agreements and rounded up by the fireplace. "Arthur will bring your trunks with him tonight, so don't worry about those. Ginny, you first. Then Ron, then Hermione." Fred and George grinned from behind Molly, and Hermione knew that they were glad to be done with travelling by Floo when they could easily Apparate. Hermione watched Ginny disappear and Ron being shepherded into the fireplace by Molly before she realized she left her bookbag upstairs. She wanted to bring it with to get a jumpstart on her studies, like she tended to do at the end of every summer.

"I'll be right back," Hermione said, excusing herself while Ron disappeared. "I have to run upstairs. You can go ahead, I'll be there in a second."

Molly hesitated, but seemed to find no problem with it. "Alright, I'll see you there. Hurry up though!" She left with a crack. Hermione nodded and started upstairs. She heard a faint crack from downstairs and figured the twins had left as well. She entered Ginny's room and grabbed her bookbag. She glanced out the window at the garden and smiled. She felt so loved and at home at the Burrow. It made her happy. She turned around to go back downstairs and was startled by a figure in the doorway.

"Fred! For Merlin's sake! What are you doing there?" she said, her hand flying to her chest to calm her speeding heart. She wasn't sure if it was racing because of the surprise of his presence or if it was because it was his presence.

"I figured instead of travelling by Floo, you might have wanted to Apparate with me instead," Fred said with a smile.

"Oh," Hermione said. "Yeah, okay." Fred held out his hand and she took it. There was a sudden spark, but before she could process it, they were at 12 Grimmauld Place and she was being thrown away from him with force from the landing. She fell on her butt on the foyer floor with a loud, unfeminine grunt.  
"Sorry 'Mione," Fred apologized with a grin. He held out his hand to help her up. She reached out to take it, but felt a shock when they touched. She pulled away and just forced herself back up. It had to be a static charge from Apparating, Hermione reasoned in her mind. Nothing more. She wiped her hands off on her knees and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Fred standing there, grinning, his hand tingling.


	3. 12 Grimmauld Place

Hermione stood around a circle with Ginny, Ron, Harry, and the twins. Since Harry's arrival, their curiosities had all been piqued. It was clear to everyone that things were not as they should be. Which is why they found themselves standing on the stairway, testing out Fred and George's latest invention – the Extendable Ears. Hermione tried to concentrate, but all she could feel was her arm pressed against Fred's, making the fact that her knee was jammed into the railing of the staircase seem unimportant. It's just warm, she tried to tell herself, with them all huddled together. It's still summer. It had nothing to do with the amount of skin contact she had with the Weasley twin. It couldn't possibly be, it's too barbaric to even consider.

Suddenly Crookshanks appeared downstairs. "Crookshanks, no!" Hermione whisper-shouted at her orange-haired cat. "Bad Crookshanks!" The cat circled the ear, batting it around a bit, thinking it was his new toy. "Crookshanks!" she moaned as the cat knocked the ear off, ruining the plans of listening in to the conversation downstairs.

"Blimey, Hermione, that cat of yours…" George said dejectedly, jogging down the stairs to pick up the ear. The group split up and went separate ways, but Fred stayed next to Hermione.

"I'm sorry about Crookshanks," Hermione said, looking down at the floor. She felt bad that it was her fault their product got ruined, though she had faith in the twins that they could fix it.

"It's not a bother, really," Fred promised. "We have a few more pairs upstairs in our room." He leaned against the banister and looked at Hermione. "What are you thinking about?" He could practically see the gears turning in the young witch's head.

"You and George, your ideas are brilliant," she admitted. "I know your mum doesn't approve of your pranks, but…it takes skill to utilize magic the way you two do. I just…have always wanted to tell you that." She looked up at Fred, who straightened his lanky frame and met her gaze. "Don't let anyone discourage you." Before he could say anything, Hermione darted up the stairs to find Ron and Harry.

The next morning, the owls showed up with the school lists for everyone. Included in Ron and Hermione's school lists were their prefect badges. A grin spread across Hermione's face as Molly fawned over the two of them. "Oh, our little Ronald, a prefect! And Hermione too! How perfect!" she cooed. The twins rolled their eyes and Ron blushed with embarrassment. "Mum," he quietly protested.

"Oh, alright. Everyone, go get ready, we're leaving for Diagon Alley in ten minutes," she said as she flounced out of the room. Fred and George left with simultaneous cracks. Ron and Harry stormed up the stairs to the room they shared. Ginny and Hermione slowly made the way to theirs.

"Congrats, though I can't say it's much of a surprise," Ginny teased. "There's not much better of a choice then you for a prefect." It sounded brash, but Hermione and Ginny both knew it wasn't meant that way. "I must admit that Ron as a prefect is a tad shocking. I'd have expected Neville before him." Hermione nodded her agreement.

Ginny decided to change before they left, so Hermione grabbed her bag and headed back downstairs to wait for the group. She was sitting at the base of the stairs, lost in thought, when a crack brought her back to reality. Fred was sitting next to her, watching her. "Honestly, hasn't that lost its appeal yet? At least with short distances?"

"Nope, not yet," Fred confirmed. "So, Prefect Granger, I never got to thank you for what you said to me yesterday. That means a lot, coming from you. And now that we've got two prefects on our side, the pranks can only improve!"

"Two prefects?"

"Of course, you and Ronniekins!" he exclaimed. "We, uh, we do have you on our side, right?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"I suppose…as long as no one ever gets hurt, then I guess I don't see the harm in letting you experiment. But the moment I feel that a student's safety is being threatened, then you better watch out, Fred Weasley!"

"Consider us warned," Fred said with a grin. He heard footsteps on the stairs and stood up, purposefully bumping his knee into Hermione's. He and George planned on making their last year at Hogwarts a year to remember, and knowing that Hermione would at least tolerate their shenanigans and not turn them in or give them detention was an added bonus. 

**AN: One more update for the night! I'm so proud, I've gotten two chapters written in one day!  
I keep forgetting to mention this, but as a disclaimer: I don't own anything HP-related, though I definitely wish I did. ;)  
I promise there will be Fremione coming! I have ideas leading all the way past the Battle of Hogwarts, so I don't want to move too quickly through any of it. Just bear with me!**

And please, feel free to leave me any sort of feedback! Any and all is appreciated! :)  



	4. Quidditch Tryouts

**AN: Another short update, but I wanted to keep going with the story! I know if I take a break and don't dedicate time to updating, it'll drift off. This was done in class, so I apologize for the length. Hopefully sometime this week I'll get a chance to write another long chapter or even a few! :)  
**

The first two weeks of classes were a flurry of classes, homework, and prefect duties for Hermione. It wasn't until Quidditch tryouts for Oliver Wood's old position did she have time to breathe. She joined Harry and Ron down at the Quidditch pitch to watch the tryouts and enjoy the beautiful early autumn weather.

She was in jeans and a t-shirt, stretched out across the seat, letting the sun warm her face. She was watching the players zooming around on their broomsticks, but her eyes kept drifting back to the twins. As ridiculous and immature as they acted, she couldn't help but laugh with them. They had such a positive outlook on life, and it was contagious. Currently, they were showing off tricks while the chasers were training with Ron, the current Keeper trying out. There were no bludgers on the field, so Fred and George had no real objective.

She glanced over at Ron as the quaffle flew right past his head and into the goal. She winced, feeling bad for her friend. He wanted it so much, and it would be a shame if he didn't get on the team. She looked back at the rest of the field, but could only see one of the twins. Not thinking anything of it, she closed her eyes and lifted her head to the warm sunlight.

"Hey 'Mione," said a voice right next to Hermione's ear.

"Bloody hell!" She jumped, caught off-guard. "Fred!" She wasn't sure when he snuck up on her, but there he was, sitting right behind her, leaning in. He laughed and jumped down next to her.

"I didn't scare ya, now did I, Granger?" he teased.

"No, of course not. Just surprised me," she countered, though they both knew she was fibbing. Hermione looked over at Fred, and saw he was watching her. Their eyes locked and Hermione had a hard time looking away. Suddenly Fred was leaning in, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Unsure of what was happening, Hermione didn't budge an inch. She held her breath and waited. Fred paused in front of her face and smiled before kissing her cheek.

"What was that for?" Hermione said, her voice sounding a lot steadier than she felt.

"For luck."

"Luck? What do you need luck for?" Hermione's face scrunched in confusion.

"For the game, of course."

"Game? You aren't playing a game, it's just try-outs," Hermione reasoned, starting to get irritated. How dare he tease her like that? Was he making fun of her?

"Then I guess I'm luckier than I thought," Fred said with a wink before jumping back on his broomstick and shooting back towards his twin. Hermione fumed for a moment in her head, but upon hearing a whooping cheer come from Fred on the field, the annoyance immediately dissolved into a smile. She touched the place on her cheek, which was warm.  
"Frederick Gideon Weasley," she muttered. "You lucky git," she added with a giggle.


	5. A Fireside Chat

"Who even let that batty toad into this school?" Lee Jordan grumbled.

"What was Dumbledore thinking?" George added. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the twins, Lee, and Angelina were all sitting around the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, trying to forget about the terrible weeks at Hogwarts and failing.

"If I wanted to be punished for no fair reason, I'd have stayed with the Dursleys," Harry muttered, rubbing the red scars on his hand from his last detention with Umbridge.

"I agree with the lot of you," Ginny said, "but sitting around complaining's not going to do rubbish. We need to fight back, but until that is actually possible, I'm going to bed." She stood up and walked away.

"Ginny's right, there's not much we can do," Harry agreed as he and Ron retreated up to the boy's dormitory. After a few more minutes of chatting, George and Angelina decided to go off somewhere together and Lee, finally noticing the glances Fred was shooting him after a few oblivious minutes, made up an excuse about a Potions paper and exited the common room through the Fat Lady's portrait, leaving Hermione and Fred alone. Hermione glanced over at Fred and saw the glaringly red letters etched into his hand.

"She sure does have an interesting way of handling detention," Hermione said softly. "I think I have something in my trunk upstairs that might help that. I'll be right back." Hermione raced up to her room, grabbed a glass potion bottle from the top of her trunk, and ran halfway back down the stairs. She paused to catch her breath and push back the hair that fell in her face before going back into the common room. She walked over to Fred and perched herself on the arm of the oversized armchair that Fred was sitting in.

She gently pulled Fred's hand over to her. "Hopefully this will help," she said, rubbing the concoction over the raised skin. "It did for Harry." It wasn't until after she was halfway through the process that she realized this was the first time she and Fred had been alone since the moment on the Quidditch pitch.

"Hey, Granger?" Fred looked at his hand curiously, then to Hermione.

"Yes?" she responded, not looking up.

"Is it supposed to make my hand all warm and tingly?"

"It shouldn't do that at all," Hermione said, looking up at Fred with alarm.

"Good, that's what I thought." He smiled his goofy smile and Hermione's heart and stomach flipped. He leaned in and their lips met. Hermione, shocked, pulled away. As her mind was trying to process what had just happened, she blurted out, "What do you need luck for this time?"

"I don't need luck, Granger," Fred whispered. "I need you." He leaned back in for another kiss, but Hermione pulled further away, trying not to fall off the chair.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I fancy you, Hermione. I thought you knew that." Hermione shook her head 'no' and Fred laughed.

"Since when?" Hermione's nose scrunched up in concentration.

"Since you told us that Dumbledore's age line wouldn't be fooled by our aging potion last year." Fred smiled at the memory. "You were so confident and sure of yourself, and as you laughed at our misfortune and basically said 'I told you so', I couldn't help but think you were the most gorgeous witch I had ever seen." Hermione's face burned with as she blushed. "But you were little Ronniekins's best friend and I'm pretty sure he'd kill me if I ever admitted to him that I cared for you." Hermione just sat, stunned at the news. "'Mione?" Fred reached out for Hermione's hand, which she had jerked away during the kiss. At his touch, she snapped back into reality.

"That's impossible," she said. "You can't like me."

"And why not?" Fred said, getting a little hurt and defensive.

"Because…" Hermione paused. "Because I've fancied you for two years, and things like that aren't supposed to work out."

"And why not?"

"Because…" Hermione stopped to think of a logical reason. If she was being honest with herself, it was because she never believed that Fred Weasley could ever like her back. She was a know-it-all witch and his little brother's friend. She didn't think that she'd ever be seen as more than a little sister, if that. "I'm not sure, actually," is what she responded with, not wanting to voice her insecurities in fear that Fred would realize the issues once she said them and changed his mind.

"Then just accept it." Fred chuckled at the stubbornness of the witch. "I'm going to kiss you again, Granger. And this time, will you try to not question it?" Hermione nodded. "Good." He leaned in and placed another kiss on her lips. Hermione returned the kiss, and the two smiled under the kiss before deepening it. When they finally pulled away, five minutes later, they looked at each other, grins spread across their faces, until Fred said, "That's better," causing them both to crack up.

"I should go to bed," Hermione said, looking in the direction of the girl's dormitory. She started to stand up, but Fred pulled her down onto his lap.

"Or you can stay here," he whispered in his ear. She turned her head to look at him, and he winked. She melted. How could she say no when her dreams, the ones she thought were so impossible, were coming true before her eyes? "Maybe a little longer," she agreed as she leaned in for another kiss.

After twenty more minutes of snogging, ignoring all the noise in the common room, Hermione pulled away, said good night, and raced into the dormitories. She didn't even notice George standing by the portrait, watching the scene unfold.

"Oi, Freddie, finally worked up your courage to tell her, I take it?"

"Bloody hell, George, how long have you been standing there?" Fred whirled around to face his twin.

"Long enough," he grinned.

"Then I'm pretty sure you know the answer to your own question." George came over and high-fived his brother, and together they wandered off to their own dormitory.

**AN: There we go, a longer chapter! And now that the two of them are together, I think I'm going to speed up a bit more, because I have ideas through post-war. Hope you guys are enjoying so far! Feel free to leave me reviews! I'd love to hear what you think! :) **


	6. The Plan

**AN: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a week; life's been hectic! But here's a new chapter! The next chapter won't come until next week again.  
Since I included a quote from OotP, I will reiterate: I do not own anything relating to HP, that's JK Rowling. Though I can dream...  
Hope you enjoy!  
**

Fred Weasley and Hermione Granger were curled up on the couch together in a hidden spot in the library, Hermione's favorite spot. They had been together for only about two weeks and hadn't yet told Harry or Ron, so any time they wanted to spend together, they had to spend it away from the Gryffindor common room. It wasn't the best situation, but neither one minded. It added to the giddiness of the new-found relationship, having to sneak around and lie about why they could be caught smiling randomly, when everyone else was so upset.

Umbridge had been running the school mad. It was late October, just a few days from November, and ugly scars could be seen marring the skin of over half the students in the school. Morale was low, and many had given up. Hermione, relentless as ever, was trying to find a way to fight back. "Remember what Ginny said, the night we….?" Hermione said, looking up into Fred's adoring eyes. "About how we should fight back?"

"Yeah," Fred said. "But we don't have a way to fight back. The toad's too powerful."

"If Voldemort is back and building an army, we need to learn how to fight. We need to learn how to duel and use magic to protect ourselves. Isn't that why we came to Hogwarts? To learn magic?" Fred nodded, so Hermione kept going. "And if Umbridge won't teach us, we'll just have to find someone who will!"

Hermione's eyes were lighting up as the idea was sparking. Fred smiled at the feisty witch, wondering how he got so lucky. "But who would teach us?"

"The choice is obvious, isn't it?" Hermione exclaimed, sitting upright. Fred shook his head, unsure of where she was going with this. "Who do we know who has faced Voldemort three times in the past four years? Harry, of course! He's survived Voldemort four times; if he can't teach us to survive, who else could?"

"Do you suppose he'd be willing?"

"Well, we can always ask him, can't we? I'll talk to him about it and if he agrees, we can have a meeting this weekend! It'd be better to do it away from the castle, of course, in case anyone overhears who shouldn't, so it should be when we're at Hogsmeade, but it shouldn't be too hard to spread the word effectively." Fred's only response was to laugh and kiss her forehead.

"'Mione, you are something else." He leaned in for another kiss, and greedy lips met his. They were lost in their own world until they heard footsteps coming toward them. It was a benefit of Hermione's spot; it was in a wonderful location where you can hear the echoes of anyone coming near.

"Hermione?" the two heard a voice call out, and a different voice, "Hermione, are you in here?" It was Ron and Harry. They were still a few aisles away, but their voices carried to the couch. Fred and Hermione leapt apart and they quickly flipped the books open that were sitting on the floor in front of the couch before Hermione called out, "I'm over here!"

Her two best friends appeared around the corner of the bookshelf. "Hermione, there you are. We were wondering where you were at, we haven't seen you for hours."

"I was helping Fred with his homework," Hermione said quickly. "Actually, we were just having a conversation, and it's great you show up. Harry, we have an idea."

"Actually, it was all Hermione's idea, but as usual, it's bloody brilliant," Fred added, setting his book aside again and sitting towards the edge of the couch cushion.

Hermione blushed. "We want to learn how to use magic, how to fight. But Umbridge won't teach us. But what if…someone else did?" Harry and Ron looked at each other then back to Hermione, in confusion.

"Who did you have in mind?" Ron asked, his face scrunched.

"You, Harry."

"Me? Why me?" Harry looked freaked out, like a deer in the headlights.

"Why not you? If anyone at the school knows anything about facing Voldemort and the Death Eaters, it'd be you! And isn't that what we'll be facing? We should be prepared, and you are the only one here who can do that!"

"I can't do that!" Harry exclaimed, growing upset.

"And why not?"

"You don't know what it's like! You — neither of you — you've never had to face him, have you?... you two sit there acting like I'm a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up — you just don't get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn't needed me —"

"Harry, I'm not saying the Cedric was stupid. I'm saying that we can avoid having more people ending up like Cedric, if they're trained enough to know what to expect, and Umbridge clearly isn't going to be the person to do it. Harry, you can save so many lives."

Harry started to melt. "Well…" he paused. "I suppose we could try it, and if it doesn't work, then we can just disband it, right?"

"Of course!" Hermione beamed.

"But since this is your idea, I'm leaving you in charge of putting it together, okay? Just tell me where I need to be and when."

"Thank you, Harry!" Hermione leapt off the couch and hugged him. "Why were you looking for me, anyways?"

"Uh…we had a homework question. Or twenty." Ron looked down sheepishly as he answered.

"Oh, alright. Let's get back to the common room then, I have a lot of planning to do." Hermione and Fred gathered up their school supplies and the four headed back to Gryffindor tower. The three boys chatted the way back, but Hermione's mind was too focused on her new task to concentrate on what was being said. Hogsmeade was in three days. She had her work cut out for her.


	7. Meeting at Hogsmeade

**AN: Sorry for no update lately - this semester's turned so busy! Hopefully this week I'll have one or two more updates, since it's spring break! :) Enjoy!  
**

Somehow, and she wasn't sure quite how, Hermione managed to pull together a meeting in the three days, _without_ the use of a Time Turner. Hermione had decided that it would be in the group's best interest of privacy to hold it off the beaten track, so it was arranged that everyone would meet at the Hog's Head at noon.

"No one will show up," Harry was insisting for the seventh time that morning. "Not with all the rubbish the Daily Prophet is spouting about me."

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, as the trio, Fred, and George were walking to the Hog's Head to set up (Harry and Ron still had no idea why the twins were suddenly a constant part of their group). "Now, you listen here, Harry James Potter. You know you're right, your friends know you're right, and we all love and support you, so we'll all be there. Besides, you might be surprised who will all show up. So just stop being so hard on yourself and let's get a move on! The meeting's only an hour away and we need to prepare." She continued walking, leaving the boys too stunned to move.

The meeting had a better turn-out than Hermione could have expected. To make it even better, after she made some opening statements and they settled in, Harry took over so she was able to melt into the crowd and stand next to Fred. They couldn't touch, as that would ruin their secret, but just being near each other was enough for them at the moment.

"Oi, Granger," Fred whispered near her ear. "Meet me in the alley behind Honeydukes at 5. I want to take you on a real date." Hermione nodded her agreement and smiled. A real, honest-to-God date with Fred Weasley. Who'd have ever imagined?

* * *

"That witch destroys everything she touches! I swear, she must be a Dementor, because she just sucks the happiness out of everything," George ranted as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny walked back to Hogwarts. The group was fuming, as Umbridge had placed a curfew on this and all future Hogsmeade trips, where students were required to be back at Hogwarts by 5'o'clock, and not a single student was happy about it. Hermione and Fred were quiet as they walked, upset that they still couldn't have a first date.

As they neared the castle, the conversation drifted to the meeting that day and the mood grew brighter as they buzzed with excitement. "I think this will turn out really well," Harry admitted. "It was nice to see the support from everyone there."

"I _told _you so," Hermione said, laughing, rolling her eyes.

"How much trouble do you think we'll get in, if Umbridge finds out?" Ron said, voicing everyone's worries. After an awkward beat of silence, Hermione finally spoke.

"Oh, who cares?" she exclaimed. "I mean, it's sort of exciting, isn't it, breaking the rules?" Hearing the young witch say something as out of character as that made Fred grin. He couldn't help but feel like he had a large impact on those words. Hermione turned her head just slightly, enough to make eye contact with her favorite twin, and Fred knew he was right.


End file.
